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History of Nijo Castle:

Though the castle was used to plan strategy sessions for the winter and summer seiges of Osaka Castle in 1614 and 1615 in which the Toyotomi family was destroyed, the primary purpose of the castle was as a symbol of power to both allies and enemies. This it achieved both in terms of its grand architecture and size. The castle was also used as the headquarters for official business and, of course, as a residence for the Tokugawa Shoguns while in Kyoto.

During the Kan'ei era (1624-1630) a mass construction project was begun by the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (1603-1651). The project would not only add a bit of polish to the castle, but also increase its size and grandeur. In September 1626 the emperor Goyozei was scheduled to visit Nijo, an act that would affirm the power and authority of the Shogunate, therefore the castle had to be prepared for the official visit. Additional pressure was added by the fact that in 1588 Toyotomi Hideyoshi (the rival of Iemitsu's grandfather - Tokugawa Ieyasu) received an imperial visit at Jurakudai and it was this precedent that Iemitsu had not only to meet, but to outshine.

Construction began in 1624 and lasted until 1626. New buildings for the imperial party were erected within the Ninomaru compound, south of the pond in the Ninomaru Garden. A castle tower was transported from Fushimi Castle while the Ninomaru tower was moved to Yodo Castle, giving the palace a new look. In addition to the new buildings the original castle was not only expanded on, as was once thought, but in fact most of the building was reconstructed. For the interior decorations painters from the Kano school were hired and created brilliant paintings of landscapes and natural scenes on the sliding doors of the palace. In the Ninomaru Garden, created under the supervison of Kobori Enshu (1579-1647), the architect and tea master, the very rocks were turned to face south to provide the Emperor with the best view.

The emperor was greeted on September 6, 1626 by both Iemitsu and his predecesor Hidetada and treated to five days of splendor. This visit brought the focus of the country onto the castle, and thus assured (as intended) the legitimacy of the Tokugawa shogunate and its bakufu (military government).

Shortly after the emperor's visit the castle and grounds began to fall into disrepair due to the great expense involved in maintaining such a large estate. The shogunate had many of the smaller buildings moved to other locations or simply dismantled to reduce cost. Several fires claimed some of the larger buildings. The most notable fires were in 1750 and 1788. The first fire reduced the five story donjon (central tower) of the Central Keep (Honmaru) to ashes and was caused by a bolt of lightning. The second was the 1788 Kyoto fire that claimed several buildings in the complex and completely destroyed the Central Keep.

Ironically both the affirmation of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603, and the resignation of the final Shogun in 1867 took place at Nijo-jo. Amidst increasing chaos as Japan tried to adjust to the arrival of the representatives of powerful industrialized nations, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837-1913) resigned in October 1867, in early 1868 emperor Meiji abolished the shogunate, and thus restored power (in theory at least) to the Imperial House. Known as the "Meiji Restoration", it also meant that Nijo-jo was handed over to the Imperial Household, who promptly installed the Imperial Cabinet within the castle.

In 1871 Nijo was transferred to Kyoto City and the city administrations set up their headquarters there. At the time many of the paintings were rolled up and stored while others were vandalized by civil servants who were caught up in the popularization of westernization and trivialization of their own culture. Jurisdiction of the castle was then passed onto the war department but the City Administration Headquarters also remained in the castle.

In 1884 the castle once again changed hands, this time to the imperial household department and its official name was changed to Nijo Detached Palace.

In 1893-1894, Prince Katsura's palace, originally built in 1847, was taken from the Kyoto Imperial Palace grounds and moved to the grounds of Nijo Castle. It is this palace than is now known as Honmaru Palace.

A large reception was held in in the Ninomaru Palace northern section in 1915 to celebrate the ascension of the Taisho emperor.

In 1939 Nijo Detached Palace was taken off of the list of Imperial buildings and the Imperial Family donated the Castle to the city of Kyoto. The name was changed to Imperial Gift Detached Nijo Palace and opened to the public in 1940. Twelve years later in 1952 Ninomaru Palace was named a National Treasure and Honmaru Palace, along with other buildings on the compound, were named as Important Cultural Properties. In 1994 Nijo Castle was registered by UNESCO on the World Heritage List.

The tour:

After walking through the Kara Mon you will come to the main complex of Ninomaru Palace which is a group of five buildings staggering to the northwest. The first group of buildings you will see will be the Carriage Porch (Karuma Yose) followed by the Tozamurai. It was in this building that vistiors would wait for an audience with the shogun. The next building is called Shikidai, followed by Ohiroma. In Ohiroma there are several mannequins in traditional garb, sitting in on an audience with the shogun. The next building is connected to Ohiroma by a long chamber. This next building, Kuro-shoin, was reserved for the friends and family of the shogun. The last building, Shiro-shoin, was the shogun's residence, where only his wives and concubines were allowed. The further one made it into the compound the more distinguished and high ranking they were.

It is obvious that Nijo is a fortress and one can see how a feudal lord and his soldiers could take up a position of defence in times of war. With the moat, guard houses, and high walls you cannot help but envision one of the Shoguns holding off an enemy until reinforcements arrived. Tokugawa Ieyasu never forgot the fate of Oda Nobunaga, and was determined to take every precaution against betrayal. The two most prominate styles of architecture from this period were the castle and the shoin-zukuri style.

The shoin-zukuri style reflects the social heirarchy within the feudal period of Japan. As mentioned before, the higher ranking and more distinguished a guest was, the further they got into the compound. Moreover, their position allowed them to be on a higher floor level. Each building has a slightly higher floor than the previous building, reflecting the social status of the guest. However, each building also had a raised platform on which the shogun would be seated during an audience so no one's head was higher than his.

Adding to the security of Ninomaru Palace, aside from secret rooms and corridors where guards could keep watch, guard towers, and the moat, were specially designed wooden floors called "uguisu bari" or Nightingale Floors. Designed to creak and squeak whenever walked upon, the floors prevented anyone from sneaking around in the castle without being heard, even if they were in bare or padded feet.

The creaking is produced when someone walks on the floor because the clamps used to fix the floorboards rub against holes in the boards. This phenomenon has also been known to naturally occur with years of people walking on the floor or the warping of the floorboards from years of exposure to wind and rain.

Looking at the design of Nijo Castle one may come to the conclusion that either Tokugawa Ieyasu was extremely cautious, planning for an attack at anytime (quite possible in his day) or he was simply paranoid. However, the squeaking floors, secret passages, towers moats, and walls were simply not enough for the first shogun. In case all of the defences of the Ninomaru Palace fell he had the Honmaru Palace as a fall back position. Honmaru Palace is located behind an inner moat and yet another wall, creating a castle within a castle. In case of an attack the shogun could retreat to this inner castle and be safe until help arrived from the outside.

The current Honmaru palace is the Palace of Prince Katsura that was transferred from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto in 1847.

The artwork:

You can view images of artworks online by clicking here or on the images below.
(you require a yamasa.org password of level X or higher to access the photos)

By contrast, the art work on display in the Honmaru palace (moved in 1847) is much more recent. It was created by Kyoto's guild artists in 1847. Unfortunately this palace is only open to the public for special viewing during the autumn. Again, no pictures are allowed inside the buildings but for a small fee you can still buy photographs, books, postcards, slides etc of the artworks from the gift shop in the castle grounds.

The gardens:

In the center of the garden is a large pond containing three islands connected by four bridges. Horai, the central island, represents the Island of Eternal Happines and is flanked by Turtle Island (Kame-jima) and Crane Island (Tsuru-jima), both symbols of longevity. Waterlilies, plants, and rocks augment the beauty of the garden. It is really a very beautiful and peaceful garden, the garden alone is worth the trip to Nijo-jo.

In 1965 the Seiryu Garden was built for the purpose of receptions and cultural events. This garden is landscaped in both modern and traditonal styles and contains two teahouses, the Koun-tei and the Waraku-an. In June and November tea masters perform tea ceremonies for the public.

How to get to Nijo-jo.

1: From Kyoto Station:

Take bus 9, 12, 50, 52, 61, or 67 to Nijo-jo-mae bus stop, or take the subway to Oike Station and walk to Nijo (about 10 minutes).

2: From Okazaki:

Take the Kaisoku (Express) from JR Okazaki Station to JR Mikawa Anjo (10 minutes) or JR Nagoya Station (28 minutes). Change to a west bound Kodama shinkansen. Take bus 9, 12, 50, 52, 61, or 67 to Nijo-jo-mae bus stop, or take the subway to Oike Station and walk to Nijo (about 10 minutes). As of writing, the tickets cost XXXX yen one way and the journey takes about XXXX minutes not including the train change.

Tours - The Japan Discovery Tours visits Nijo Castle
Click here for more information regarding when Discovery visits this destination.

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